K Class

HMAS K9

Image provided by Royal Australian Navy

HMAS K9 Aground near Seal Rocks

HMNlS KIX was commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy in June 1923

June 1917

Order placed for construction of the submarine

1 March 1919 K IX is laid down at the K.M. De Schelde shipyard in Vlissingen.

June 1923

KIX commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy on Thursday 21 June 1923

From June 1923 to February 1924 KIX conducted operations in Netherland Home waters.

Netherlands submarine KIX at Vlissingen 1924

Image provided by http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats

HMNlS at Vlissingen

February 1924

On Thursday 28 February 1924, HMNlS KIX departed Vlissingen for Soerabaja

KIX sailed from Vlissingen via Portland, Plymouth, Sevilla, Tunis, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, Aden and Colombo to Sabang and then on to Soerbaja.

June 1924

Arrived Soerabaja

KIX arrived in Soerabaja on Sunday 15 June 1924 and was to be based there until February 1942

Netherlands submarines K IX (right) and K VIII in Manila, 1926. In the background K II (left) and K VII

Image provided by http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats

KIX (alongside the wharf) and KVIII (outboard) in Manila 1926

September 1939

3 September 1939 World War II began

In May 1940 Germany attacked the Netherlands and Netherlands submarine headquarters moved to London. K IX conducted patrols Netherlands East Indies waters. In March 1941 K IX, K X and K XVII are ordered to patrol Sunda Strait area to counter the German "pantser" ship Scheer. The raider had been spotted in the Indian Ocean and attacked several merchant ships.

In December 1941 K IX was under repair at the Naval yard in Soerabaja and the submarine was removed from the 'active list' 7 Dec 1941.

On 7 December 1941 the USA declared war on Japan following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Approximately 7 hours after the attack the Netherlands also declared war on Japan.

With their submarine out of commission, the crew of KIX were transferred to the K X so the later could return to active service.

January 1941

On 6 January, 1942, KIX is recommissioned and manned with a reserve crew to conduct a war patrol against Japanese forces.

KIX was deployed to conduct a patrol against Japanese forces in the Gulf of Thailand in February and March 1942. However, the submarine was forced to return to port because of engine defects. By this time Japanese forces had captured Soerabaja. Along with many other Allied submarines, KIX sailed to Fremantle via the Lombok Strait.

March 1942

Arrived Fremantle

KIX arrived in Fremantle arriving on Friday 13 March. The submarine was in very poor material condition and the Netherland Navy offered the boat to the RAN to support anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training.

April 1942

HMNlS IX becomes HMAS K9

The offer by the Royal Netherlands Navy was gratefully accepted, and on Thursday 30 April, 1942 HMNlS IX was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS K9

HMAS K9 was deployed from Fremantle to Sydney, arriving in Sydney on Tuesday 12 May, where it was berthed alongside the accommodation ship HMAS Kuttabul at Garden Island.

May 1942

Japanese Midget Submarine Attack in Sydney Harbour

On the night of Sunday 31 May 1942, the Japanese submarines I-27, I-22 and I-24 – dispersed in an arc formation outside the entrance to Sydney Harbour. Each of them released a 2-man midget submarine to launch an audacious, clandestine attack on the harbour.

The second midget submarine, M-24, successfully entered the harbour at 2148. M-24 fired 2 torpedoes at the cruiser USS Chicago, both of which missed the intended target. One ran ashore at Garden Island and failed to explode, while the second passed under K9, striking the sea wall at Garden Island. It exploded on impact beneath Kuttabul.

Kuttabul was sunk by a Japanese torpedo with the loss of 21 lives. The Officer of the Day in K9 was injured in the explosion, but his prompt action saved the submarine.

K IX was also significantly damaged during the attack.

Because of its poor mechanical condition HMAS K9 saw little service with the RAN and spent most of her time under repair.

In 1944, K9 was badly damaged again by a battery explosion. Due to a lack of spare parts the submarine was decommissioned from the RAN the same year.

Ironically, K9 then re-entered Dutch service as an oil lighter. But in one final misadventure she was washed ashore near Seal Rocks, New South Wales in June 1945 while under tow and subsequently stripped for scrap.

The 64.5-metre-long wreck was eventually located in 1999 by the New South Wales Government's Heritage Office. The stretch of coast on which K9 grounded is now known as Submarine Beach in her honour. The same area had proved treacherous at least once before. It was originally known as Fiona Beach following the loss of the iron steamer Fiona in 1882. That wreck site lies just 3km south of K9.